October Fests: Part One, Homecoming
by DragonDancer5150
Summary: Yugi is in GA for school, and a few classmates decide to teach the shy exchange student about fun, American style. . . . Discontinued. Unfortunately, I moved and lost touch with my cowriter and just don't see being able to finish this one. Sorry, guys! COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1 New Traditions

Author's Note - Hey, everyone! This is a big departure for me. It's a joint effort with a very good friend of mine, Lady LeBeau. No, that's not the departure. ((grin)) The difference is that she's a comedic author. While I weave humor into my stories, they would not normally fall into the comedic category. However, we talked one day and came up with a series of ideas that were mostly just "amusements" - no great conflicts, no save-the-world-again plots, just some down-to-earth fun and personal interactions. Yes, we came up with some plotlines to keep these from being meaningless fluff. Anyway, hope everone enjoys!

Disclaimer –"Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Takahashi Kazuki and any other related owners/distributors/producers. We get no monetary benefit from this. Our benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"October Fests: Part One - Homecoming"  
by Lady LeBeau and DragonDancer5150

Chapter One – New Traditions

Yugi wandered across campus at a much less frantic pace than his fellow students who were eager to get home for the weekend, trying to rub the headache out of both temples with only one free hand. He had never been to a – what did they call that again? – "pep rally" before and found himself rather dreading the next one. If he had learned nothing else in the past month since starting school, it was that Americans liked everything fast, busy . . . and loud.

Last spring, Mutou Michiko found in her proverbial lap what she felt to be a great opportunity for her son. She and her father (well, father-in-law, if one wanted to be technical about it) could only afford to pay for a half-year's worth of schooling, but it meant time abroad, five months in the prosperous and promising United States. Yugi had arrived some six weeks ago to live with a host family on the opposite side of the country from his native Japan, in a state by the name of Georgia. He told friends and family back home that he was living in the city of Atlanta, though technically he was in a suburb known as Chamblee. He supposed that was rather like telling someone he lived in Tokyo or in Domino City, his hometown being technically a bit south and west of the world-renown capital – but the two were still technically considered as one to those not from the area.

-_That's a lot of "technically's," Aibou,_- a voice chuckled softly in his mind.

-_Heh, yup, I guess so_,- Yugi allowed with a private grin.

At least he had been able to bring one friend along so he was not quite so lonely and homesick. He desperately missed his other friends, though – Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, Otogi . . .

"Whoa! Watch where you're walkin', Freshie."

_I'm not a freshman!_ Still, rather than argue, Yugi backpedaled and bowed apologies to the beefy jock before continuing on his way. By the reckoning of the American education system, he was a Junior. Still, he was on the opposite side of campus from the banks of upperclassmen's lockers. Within a week of school's start, he had been moved to the Sophomore area, as he could not properly reach into an upper-level locker, and there were no open floor-level lockers in his year's section. He sighed heavily. On the whole, the Japanese were shorter than Americans, and he was far shorter than the average Japanese height. He was rarely taken for his true age of seventeen years even back home, so he supposed he could hardly expect otherwise here.

He approached his locker as a knot of Sophomore girls stood talking. He recognized one of them from his English class – a slender, pretty blonde by the name of Krystal. Yugi's reading and comprehension of the English language were decent, but his grasps of the spoken language and of general written composition were not quite up to Junior level standards. Thus, he had been placed in a class one level below his grade-year. He waited for the small gathering to disperse to approach his locker rather than intrude on their conversation, shifting the heavy textbook in one arm and attempting to rub the ringing out of his other ear. It was a wonder to him that American teenagers were not deaf by the time they graduated high school.

"Okay, um . . . Chelsea has a cell phone, right?" Krystal asked, getting worried.

"Yeah," nodded a brunette. Yugi thought she looked terribly anxious.

"Anyone have her number?"

An Asian girl with brown eyes took an address book out of her bag and flipped through it. "No, I don't have it."

"I might have it saved," put in a blonde with green eyes, taking a cell phone out of her pocket and scanning through the address book. "…Nope."

The brunette appeared to be trying really, really hard not to panic. "So what do we do now? I said I'd give her a ride home from Homecoming, but I think her mom thought I meant the game, and I wasn't even planning on staying for it because I've got loads of homework and . . . "

"What's all the fuss about?" A slim blonde with a freckled face appeared through a pair of double doors that led to one of the many staircases from the senior hall below. Yugi recognized her from his English class as well.

"Chelsea!" The brunette sighed in relief. "Ohmigosh, thank goodness! Um, am I giving you a ride home after the game?"

Chelsea shook her head. "Nope. Hitching a ride with Eva. You're taking me home after the dance, remember, Ashley?"

Ashley sighed again. "Ah. Good. See you guys tomorrow, then."

Krystal turned back to the contents of her locker as her friends filtered off, and Yugi took the opportunity to lighten his load into his own. He did not need the tome of U.S. history, at least not this weekend, though he would need his geometry book, and social studies –

"Hi! Your ears bleeding, too?"

Yugi turned with a start to Krystal, who had glanced down at him while pulling books out of her bookbag. His left hand finally freed, he had been absently rubbing the heel of his palm into that ear in a vain attempt to ease the persistent ringing. He dropped his hand and inclined his head, the closest he could get to a bow as he was already crouched down on a knee. "Good afternoon, _Kurisutaru-chan_." He tripped over the pronunciation of the foreign name. "Eh, they are not 'bleeding' . . . " _Yet_. He ignored the bemused grin from Yami who had manifested to stand behind him, reflexively guarding his partner's back.

Krystal grinned at his formality and the honorific. "Eh, no, not literally." She shrugged. "It's something Chelsea said that we all started using. Just means that your ears hurt because of some unpleasant noise or other." She grinned to herself. "Heh, study time's all pep rallies are good for." She waved her math book proudly before throwing it in her locker. "I finished my homework!"

Yugi allowed a weak smile in return. "That's great you can concentrate enough to get homework done with so much . . . distraction."

"Heh, and it didn't help that the powder-puff cheerleaders were right in front of me . . . " She winced, then added with a wink, "But hey, that was nothing. I've got a little sister who plays tuba."

Yugi nodded, though he did not recognize some of the words she used. He figured that he probably did not _want_ to know what "powder-puff" meant exactly and guessed the last to be a musical instrument of some kind. "What is the purpose of a . . . 'pep rally' again?"

Krystal rolled her eyes. "To make a lot of noise, get out of half an hour of class, and for the boys to watch the cheerleaders. Officially, though, it's to get the students and athletes excited about the football game." She shrugged again.

"Ah." Well, it was certainly difficult _not_ to watch the – ! Yugi caught himself with a self-conscious murmur. He shook his head and stuck it in his locker in the pretence of digging for something, hoping Krystal did not see the sudden flush to his cheeks.

He could hear the slight frown in Krystal's tone. "Oh, sorry, no offence to you. I'm just really used to hanging out with girls all the time, so . . . yeah."

Yugi re-emerged, resisting the urge to glance over his shoulder at Yami, now chuckling at his partner's teenage fluster. "Hm? Oh! N-no, it's all right – none is taken."

"So, you going to the dance tomorrow?"

This whole past week had been a series of activities they called "Homecoming," something leading up to the social event Saturday night. "Erm . . . "

-_It would do you good to get out among your fellow students, Aibou_.-

"My . . . host mother says that I should . . . "

"You got a date?"

Yugi did not miss the playful glint in her eye. He tried to remember – "Date" was one English term for the numbers on the calendar, but it also meant . . . "O-oh! Uh, I . . . I haven't. What do Americans do for . . . dates?" The blush was back; he could feel it.

"Hm? In this case, basically show up at the dance with your date, then do whatever you want until the slow dance, then you dance with them, then you do whatever again. It's really informal."

"So . . . a date is a person, not _what_ you do?"

Krystal laughed. "It can refer to both. You can go on a date, but the person you go with is referred to as your date. English is pretty screwed up."

Yugi grinned in return. "Heh, yup, it's . . . is a challenge at times."

"So, are you reluctant to go because you don't have a date?"

_Gods, are American girls always so forward? _ Yugi did not answer right away, trying not to jump to conclusions as to where this was headed. "Do you . . . have to have a date to go on one? I-I mean, go to a dance?" _Gah!_ He caught himself from smacking his forehead in embarrassment. _That was a stupid question!_

Yami, for his part, stood with his arms partly folded, one hand over his mouth to hide the smile, but he could not completely conceal from his partner the sensation of his suspicion: that Yugi might actually like this girl, if only a little. After all, Yugi had largely given up on Anzu some time ago. -_It seems like a valid question to me. It's all right, Aibou. You're just flustered. Calm down. She's not going to bite._-

"Nah, not to this one," Krystal was responding at the same time, giving him a wink.

-_Heh, the feeling may be mutual_,- Yami observed with a laugh.

Yugi's blush deepened, which he had not thought to be possible, his hand subconsciously gripping the chain of the Puzzle, something he always did when uncomfortable, regardless of why. And it was not helping his headache to listen to comments in two different languages in essentially the same conversation. Yami comprehended the dialogues around him through Yugi's understanding, but his own speech was still in Japanese.

"Y'know, pretty much all of my friends don't have dates. Not surprising, really, with all the jerks at this school." She paused, then added almost sheepishly, "Present company excepted, of course."

Considering the context, Yugi guessed that "all the jerks" basically meant "all the boys." He couldn't say that he disagreed, shrugging with a grin of his own that he was not bothered by the comment. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Yugi ventured, "Are . . . you and your friends not going, then?"

"What? Sure, we're going! A couple of us are meeting up tomorrow evening and going in a group. No dates or anything, just to have fun."

"What do you do at a dance if you do not dance with a date?" Yugi frowned a bit, hoping that he used all the right words correctly.

"You dance on your own! Or with a group of friends. Or complete strangers."

Yugi did not know quite what to think of that last, and it must have shown on his face, as she paused a moment, snickering, before she continued. "Or you can just sit and talk, and watch the people go by."

"Oh, well . . . that sounds interesting, too, I suppose." Closing his locker, Yugi pushed to his feet, shouldering his backpack in a practiced motion.

"It's a load of fun." Krystal finished packing her own bookbag, locked her locker, shouldered the bag, and stood up. "Say, you want to come with us? You're pretty cool. And it'd be interesting having a boy along. Wanna come?"

Yugi nearly dropped his backpack. " Um . . . m-me?"

"No, the tri-colored, spiky boy behind you. Of course, you!"

Both Yugi and Yami reacted in an instant of genuine alarm before recovering with self-conscious chuckles, realizing – or at least hoping – that she was kidding.

Krystal maintained her grin, though Yugi could see the hint of disappointment in her eyes. "Oh . . . if you're uncomfortable going with a bunch of girls, I understand if you don't want to go with us – but it'd be really fun to have you along!"

"I . . . oh, no, no! I-I would like to come along. Thank you very much . . . Krystal-chan!" This time, he made sure to pronounce her name properly and gave her a respectable bow. Then, the last part of the comment caught up to him. The blush returned. "You think so?"

"Yup! This makes . . . two decent guys in the school! Score!" She grinned.

"Are you going to the game tonight?" Yugi was not a sports fan himself, but he thought it might be worth going if Krystal and her friends let him sit with them.

"Nah, football bores me," she said with a dismissive wave. "Never really saw the point."

"Ah." Yugi was not sure if he were relieved or disappointed.

Just then, a bell rang, the sound echoed through speakers all across campus.

"Oh, drat, I've got a bus to catch." Krystal took off down the hall, shouting over her shoulder. "I'll call ya with the details, 'kay?" Their English teacher had passed out a sheet with everyone's home phone numbers at the beginning of the year so there could be no excuses about missed homework assignments.

"Oh, all right! Talk to you later, Krystal-chan!" Yugi turned toward the front parking lot where Neal would be waiting for him. He was shaking his head at the whole conversation.

Yami paced along beside him, grinning in that way only an older-brother figure could. -_Go, Aibou! Looks like you've got yourself a date_.-

Yugi's gait faltered for a step or two as he blinked, thinking about that. Then, he gave a sheepish shrug. "Heh, yup, I guess I do."

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"Okay, we're meeting at . . . Northlake Mall . . . at seven?" Krystal confirmed, scribbling it down on a post-it note stuck to the wall above her bed. She was lying on her side, phone held to her ear with her shoulder, and playing absently with her pillowcase.

"Yup," Chelsea replied over the phone. "That's . . . you, me, Ashley, Mel, and Flora."

"And Yugi."

" . . . what?"

"Yugi. Spiky hair, interesting taste in jewellery, in our English class? I invited him along." She paused, realizing that she had not checked it with the other girls yet. "That's okay, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think so. It'll be interesting, at least." One could hear the smile. "We have a boy!"

"We have a boy," Krystal replied, also grinning.

A thought seemed to strike Chelsea just then. "Hey, think he'd be up for Halloween with us?"

Krystal pondered it. "Hmm . . . maybe . . . he's nice enough but kinda shy, so I dunno if he'd go for it, but . . . "

"We'll see how tomorrow goes," Chelsea replied.

"Mmm-hmm," Krystal agreed. "Speaking of which, I'd better call him, tell him where we're meeting, see if he needs a ride, or whatever."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," Chelsea said, slight sarcasm adding spice to her words.

Krystal laughed. "Yup. Well, see you tomorrow, then."

"Ta," Chelsea replied, and the connection cut with a click.

Krystal hung up the phone. "Now, to find that darned phone list . . . Ah." She found "Mutou, Yugi" in the left-hand column and dialed the number by his name.

It barely rang once before she heard, "Hello, Carringtons." Another line picked up at the same time, then cut off.

_Carringtons?_ she thought, then realized that she did not know the name of Yugi's host family. "Hi. Is there a 'Yugi' at this phone number?"

She could hear the male preteen mischief (which was to say, "jerk-in-the-making") in the kid's voice. "Depends. Is this his girlfriend?"

" . . . No . . . "

In the background, an adult woman's voice could be heard just then. "Jim, who's it for?"

The boy gave an exasperated sigh before half-covering the headset's microphone and screaming at the top of his lungs, "Hey, Yugi! It's for you. It's a _GI-IRLLL!_"

Krystal could all but feel an anime-style sweatdrop running down the back of her head. "Glad I've got a sister," she muttered as she waited for her classmate to pick up the line.

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Yugi sat on the top bunk, trying to drag himself through a reading assignment for social studies after dinner. It was his host "brother" Neal's turn to use the desk as he was looking up research material on the Internet for a term paper. Yugi jumped when the phone rang, swallowing hard at the thought that it might be Krystal. Neal picked up, then hung up again without a word, and Yugi realized he could hear a voice downstairs. He flinched again, his heart stuffing itself up his throat, when the voice called out, "Hey, Yugi! It's for you. It's a _GI-IRLLL!_"

Neal rolled his eyes at his baby brother's singsong voice before flashing his roommate a knowing grin. He stood and stretched, then waved at the phone on the desk next to the computer. "Go ahead. I was just thinking of getting a shower anyway."

Yugi nodded as he climbed down the ladder, appreciating that at least one of the boys had learned manners. He picked up the receiver, calling out the door, "_Arigatou_, Jim-chan. I have a phone up here!" He suppressed another gulp before putting the headset to his ear. "_Moshi-moshi_ – ah, t-that is . . . hello?" This was the first call he had received since getting here that had not been his mother or grandfather – or Jonouchi – to see how he was faring. He was accustomed to conversing in Japanese when on the phone and now bapped himself with a fist. _Great. Now she knows you're an idiot. Don't even know what language to use . . ._ Yami chuckled in the back of his mind.

A bright, cheery voice rewarded him, unfazed by the mistake. " Hi! It's Krystal. Um . . . is tomorrow still on?"

Yugi was about to respond when he realized that he not heard the phone downstairs hang up. ". . . Jim-chan, please . . ."

Neal had ducked back in to grab a change of clothes. Scowling, he leaned over the rail in the hall to glare down in the general direction of the first floor. "Jimmy!"

Mrs. Carrington's voice quickly followed. "James Timothy Carrington, get off that phone right now!"

_Click_.

Mortified, Yugi almost wished he could sink through the floor, and Yami's bemused smirk in the back of his mind did not help anything. "G-good evening, Krystal-chan," he managed to choke out.

" . . . Sibling?" He could hear the empathy in her voice.

"Eh . . . not mine directly, but he is a son of my host family."

"Ah. Yeah. So, tomorrow . . . you need a ride? If you're still coming?" she added, as if realizing she had not yet received an answer to her first question.

"I will – I mean, I am – _I mean_ . . . yes, thank you. What time? Oh, what should I bring? And . . . how does a person dress for a dance?"

Krystal laughed. "No problem – six-thirty, money for dinner and a ticket, and semi-formal." She paused. "Uh . . . you don't need to really dress up, but no jeans or shorts. Just . . . nice."

"Ah . . . all right. What might be the cost of dinner? And . . . would I be paying for . . . um . . . for one or . . . two?" He was sure she could _hear_ him blushing, but he thought he remembered that American custom was such that the boy paid for himself and his "date."

By her tone of voice, she shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly oblivious to his discomfort. "Just yourself. Um . . . ten dollars ought to cover it."

"Ah, all right. Six-thirty, then."

"Hmm . . . anything else you need to know?" she wondered aloud. "Nope, I think that's it. Yup, see you then!" _Click._

Yugi stared at the buzzing phone in his hand, feeling a little lost. ". . . eh . . . well, all right, then." He hung up the phone and turned to his half of the closest, social studies completely forgotten as he tried to figure out what to wear for his first "date" with an American girl.

* * *

Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2 Going Out ?

Disclaimer –"Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Takahashi Kazuki and any other related owners/distributors/producers. We get no monetary benefit from this. Our benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"October Fests: Part One - Homecoming"  
by Lady LeBeau and DragonDancer5150

Chapter Two – Going Out . . . ?

"Hey, pretty sharp, there, buddy!" Neal gave his roommate a thumbs-up as the other returned to the bedroom after his shower.

"Eh, thank you, Neal-kun." Yugi looked down at himself, considering the black slacks and silver-grey vest over black long-sleeved shirt, the usual black choker-belt finishing the attire as it protected the back of Yugi's neck from chafing by the heavy chain of the Puzzle, also in place as always. His boots were downstairs by the front door. He got compliments whenever he wore this outfit, though he did not do so often. One of the most memorable times was when he first started getting to know his friend, Otogi Ryuugi. _When I finally get to a game shop, I'll have to be sure to see if they carry Otogi-kun's Dungeon Dice Monsters_, Yugi reminded himself.

-_He did say that it was selling rather well, at least over on the west coast._- Yami nodded from where he stood out of the way in the corner, then added, -_You do look very cool, Aibou! Krystal should be quite impressed_.-

Yugi refrained from responding and started to climb the ladder to his bed, having left a belt up there. He faced the door in that position, and Jimmy ducked his head in to make a face.

"You're not actually gonna _wear_ that tonight, are you!"

Yugi paused to grip the chain of the Puzzle out of reflex. This was not the first time Jimmy had taunted him about his treasure. Before he could respond, however, Neal grabbed and threw a dirty t-shirt at him. "Drop it, brat! Leave him alone."

"Jeez, he's such a dork!" Jimmy retreated to his bedroom, laughing.

Neal offered his roommate an apologetic glance and shake of the head, but Yugi only shrugged with a grin. For the most part, James was harmless so Yugi supposed he did not mind too much. He also supposed that he was glad to have been an only child himself. He appreciated that Neal never commented again about his oversized necklace once Yugi explained that it had been a gift and challenge from his grandfather, an artifact from exotic Egypt, and that he was never without it. It was his treasure. It was also one of the few familiar things Yugi had brought with him from home, so he knew Neal figured he could allow his new friend that comforting oddity. Neal did, however, grin with a mild tease of his own as Yugi buckled the second belt around his waist. "Never without those, either, huh?"

"Those," of course, were his Duel Monsters cards in their deck case on the belt. "Eh . . . yup. I guess I just don't feel right without them," Yugi murmured sheepishly. He adjusted the case to ride his right hip, tugging the vest down in place over it.

Neal was more into video games and tabletop role-playing, but he knew Yugi's reputation as a trading-card gamer all the same, had even seen him on television during Kaiba Corp's Battle City tournament. He shook his head again with a laugh. "Sure, Yugi. I understand." He glanced behind him at the computer screen, reading the numbers in the lower right-hand corner. "Ooh, almost time. Well, ya got any other questions?"

Yugi fiddled with his wristwatch, noting the LED digits "6:20p" on the black-and-silver face, and tried to remember all the things Neal had told him that an American gentleman did for a lady.

-_"Ladies first,"_- Yami reminded him. -_Open a car door or building door for the ladies . . . Offer to push her chair in . . . Compliment her on her dress . . _.-

-_What? Were you taking notes for me?_- Yugi laughed, suppressing an audible chuckle even as he allowed himself a glance at his ethereal friend.

-_I won't help you with your schoolwork, Aibou, because you need to learn that on your own. This, however . . ._ - Yami shrugged with a grin.

Yugi gave him a silent mock-groan, then shook his head at Neal. "No, I don't think I do. Thank you, Neal-kun."

"All right, well – ah, crap! Never called the restaurant to make a reservation. See ya downstairs." Neal darted out the door.

Yugi turned to check his appearance one last time in the mirrors on the sliding closet doors just as Mrs. Carrington knocked softly on the doorjamb for his attention. "Yugi?"

"_Hai_, Mom-san?"

Alyssa Carrington smiled at her houseguest, tickled by the title he had chosen to call her. "You look very handsome, Yugi. I should get a picture to send back to your mom and granddad." Chuckling at the puzzled expression he must have had come to his face, she explained, "Well, perhaps that's not your custom, but American mothers are funny about that. I know – we'll wait until your date gets here and get a picture of you together," she added with a wink.

_My . . . date . . . ?_ "Eh . . . _Haha to Jii-chan_ would like that, I think." Yugi chuckled self-consciously, also knowing that it amused Mrs. Carrington to hear him call his mother and grandfather by their Japanese titles. He decided not to bother correcting his host mother, having already failed to convince Neal's little brother otherwise.

"Where is Neal?"

"He's downstairs, making a reservation for Andrea and him."

"For _himself_ . . . and Andrea," Mrs. Carrington corrected mildly.

"For himself and Andrea." Yugi nodded, slowly repeating the phrase to better remember it. "Thank you."

Mrs. Carrington smiled. Yugi had learned right away that, as an attorney, she knew the importance of proper speech and demanded it from her boys – even foreign, half-adopted ones. "So . . . Krystal? – should be here in a few minutes. Did you remember to tell her to turn at the _second_ Schooner Drive, not the first?"

Yugi choked. He had not remembered to give her any directions at all.

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"Okay, Krystal, where does this Yugi live?"

"Here," Krystal replied, offering a computer printout as she and her mother climbed into the car. Krystal had looked up the Carrington's address in the directory and used a handy website, MapquestDotCom, to get directions.

Her mother accepted the sheet of paper and looked it over. "All right, I know where this is." She started the car and pulled out of the driveway. As they rode along, Mrs. Erikson asked, "So how do you know Yugi? Is she in one of your classes, or what?"

Krystal choked. "_He_ is in my English class, and has a locker near mine." She groaned at having to stress the gender of the pronoun.

"Oh." Her mom glanced at her sidelong and commented almost playfully, "You didn't tell me you had a date!"

"Nonono, I invited him along with my group of friends."

Her mom paused for a moment, then asked, "Aren't your friends all girls?"

". . . yeah. . ."

"Um . . . don't you think Yugi will feel a bit uncomfortable?" Mrs. Erikson pointed out.

Krystal considered it. "Come to think of it, he probably will . . . but I don't think he would go at all if I hadn't asked him to come with us. He's kinda shy . . . I only know him because he's in my English class." She had started to ramble. "He's a Junior, but he's in my English class because . . . oh, don't tell me I didn't tell you about the Japanese exchange student!"

"No, this is news to me."

"Yeah . . . well . . . that's him."

"Okay. That's cool." Mrs. Erikson smiled. "How does he like it here?"

Krystal shrugged. "Um . . . okay, I guess. You can ask him yourself when we get there, if you want."

Her mother nodded. "Yeah, okay."

A few minutes later, they pulled up to a two-story house with brickwork on three of its four sides, the decorative window shutters and front door painted a stately black. Krystal climbed out of the car while her mother waited with the engine running. Reaching the door, she rang the bell and stepped back, admiring the tall, shaped bushes on either side of the steps.

"I've got it!" she heard a voice call from within before the door opened to reveal a young man in beige slacks and casual sports jacket, his dusky brown hair as unruly as ever. She recognized the Junior from school and thought she recalled that he spent a lot of time with the Audio-Video department. "Hi. Neal Carrington?"

"Yep. And you're Krystal Erikson?"

"Yup. Yugi ready to go?"

"Yeah, just about. Would you like to come in for a moment?"

"Sure."

Neal sidestepped, letting Krystal slip past into the foyer. She found herself standing at the foot of a staircase to the upper floor, at the top of which she could see a railing where one could stand and look down on the entry hall or through the great window on the second story that looked out over the lawn. Through a doorway on her right was a stately formal dining room – which she could see was likely used for anything but – while the left doorway opened into a home office. Straight ahead, past the staircase, she could see the kitchen. Suddenly, a boy of perhaps ten or twelve years of age stuck his head around the corner from said kitchen. A big grin broke across his face at the sight of the visitor, and he hollered, "Yugi! Your _girlfriend's_ here!"

Neal growled, "_Why you little_ – excuse me." He nodded to Krystal, then moved to take off after his little brother, who disappeared for the other end of the house, snickering. Neal pulled up short of the kitchen door before turning back to Krystal, shaking his head with a deep frown. "Sorry about that. Can I get you a drink?"

Krystal was laughing in amusement. "Nah, I'm fine – thanks."

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Yugi had heard the doorbell, followed by the voices, and raced down the hall, stopping cold at the railing before the top step. He had always had the impression of his classmate being somewhat of a – what was the word? Danny-boy? No, that was something else. Tomboy! Yes, that was it. However, she now wore a comely dress of deep red velvet that reached nearly to the floor in spite of black high-heeled shoes. A small red rose perched above her collarbones on a black ribbon around her throat. Red eye shadow and lipstick completed the ensemble. Unadorned, her straight, shoulder-length hair was simply swept back as usual over her ears on either side. He refrained from the reactionary "whoa!" and managed to recover himself. "Eh – hi, Krystal-chan!" He rushed down the stairs, paused, looked up at her, and pushed back up two steps, taking advantage of the temporary aid in height to meet her gaze eye-to-eye. Blushing slightly, he offered a quick bow. "Thank you for inviting me along with your friends."

Krystal was trying hard not to laugh, the good-natured twinkle in her eye far from mocking. "Oh, don't worry about it. It'll be fun. You ready?"

Yugi nodded enthusiastically. "Yup!"

Neal gave him a slap on the back as he hopped back down to ground level and moved to pull his boots on. "Have fun, Yugi. Andi and I'll see you later."

"Neal, Yugi, who's at the door?" Mrs. Carrington appeared at the railing of the second floor. "Ah, you must be Krystal." Krystal nodded, waving with a grin. "Pleased to meet you. Now remember – " She looked at the boys. "I want you both home by midnight. Got that?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Mom, no problem."

Yugi bowed. "_Hai_, Mom-san."

"All right. You kids have fun!" She waved one last time before disappearing again from view.

"You guys go ahead. I'll lock the door and go out through the garage."

Both Yugi and Krystal nodded as Neal pulled the door open. "Shall we go?" Krystal queried with a grin.

Yugi's cheeks flushed a little again. "Yup."

He followed Krystal across the lawn to the blue station wagon on the curb, noting the brunette woman at the steering wheel and wondering if his friend got her flaxen hair from her father. _Well, I don't have _my_ mother's hair, either_, he shrugged. Krystal usurped the rear door, motioning for him to take the front seat. He hesitated, then opened the passenger door, bowing. "Good afternoon, Erikson-san . . . I mean . . . _Mrs_. Erikson."

He winced as he read the thought in her eyes. _"San"? Ookaaay . ._ . "Nice to meet you, Yugi," she smiled.

Yugi suppressed a grimace at himself. "S-sorry . . . wrong language," he apologized with a weak grin, climbing in and buckling his seatbelt. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Mrs. Erikson jerked a thumb over her shoulder at her daughter as she drove away from the house. "I only understand about half of what she says about anime and stuff anyways, so I'm used to it. "

Krystal laughed. "Took me ages to get her to pronounce 'Inu-Yasha' correctly."

"Yes, I kept saying 'Ini-yashu'," the woman admitted, her tone sheepish.

Yugi laughed, then gasped slightly, half-turning in his seat. "Are you an _otaku_, Krystal-chan?" He was much more of a puzzle-and-game fan himself, so it had not really registered but, now that he thought about it, he was fairly sure he had seen a translated copy of Fruits Basket in her bookbag about a week ago.

Krystal grinned. "You bet I am, and so's most of my circle of friends."

" . . . otaku?"

"Hey, that is great!" Yugi was grinning broadly. Maybe they would have things to talk about after all! Then, Mrs. Erikson's question registered. "Oh . . . um . . . " The concept was a bit complicated, at least among Japanese. He thought that Krystal might recognize the term only because he had heard that American fans had adopted it as well.

"Geek," Krystal laughed. "Anime geek."

". . . 'geek'?" Yugi had heard that term murmured as an insult at school in tones that gave him the impression one would not freely choose to be called such.

"Um . . . " Krystal's voice trailed off, trying to decide on a definition.

Yugi chuckled. "Heh, never mind. It's all right." _Defining "geek" must be like trying to define "otaku."_

Standing in the open doorway of his soul room, leaned casually against the jamb with his arms crossed, Yami could only shrug. -_You've got me, Aibou_.-

Krystal, too, shrugged. "Sorry . . . "

Mrs. Erikson gave a brief, wicked grin as she glanced over her shoulder at her daughter. "Geeks are sexy."

"They are?" Yugi startled, blushing as he thought he recognized the last term.

Krystal choked in mortified embarrassment. "Mom!"

Mrs. Erikson laughed. "Anyways, there's something I really want to ask you, Yugi."

"Eh, sure."

"Are you Krystal's date for tonight?"

It was Yugi's turn to choke. "Um . . . I . . . " He started to glance back but stopped himself. He did not want to indicate one way or the other, however, without knowing exactly from Krystal, not wanting to offend her by saying they were not if she thought they were. "I-I guess that would depend on how exactly that's defined . . . " He made himself remain upright rather than sink into the seat of the car, even as he could hear Krystal trying very hard not to laugh. In the back of his mind, Yami was not trying nearly as hard. "We ARE meeting with some of your friends, _ne_, Krystal-chan?" Yugi hoped he did not actually sound as pathetic as he feared he did.

At that, Krystal regained control of her own embarrassed mirth. "Yes, we are. We're all going as a _group_, Mom. I told you before."

"Oh. Okay, then, if you say so," Mrs. Erikson chuckled at her daughter, then added for both hers and Yugi's sakes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

-_Yes, Mrs. Erikson, I think you did_,- Yami chuckled in great amusement.

-_Yami!_- Yugi grinned weakly at Mrs. Erikson. "Oh . . . t-think nothing of it." He thought a moment, then asked, "A date is when it's only two people, correct?"

Krystal nodded. "Unless it's a double date, with two pairs of people. But you're the only guy, so it's not."

Yugi winced, glancing at Mrs. Erikson and wondering what she must think of him – a lone boy with a bunch of girls. Her attention was focused steadfastly forward, on the road, but he could see that she was amused.

They drove in silence for a moment, listening to the radio. Yugi watched the tidy neighborhood give way to more commercial buildings while, within, Yami tracked their progress. The spirit frowned as they turned down a street he and Yugi had not taken before, suddenly realizing that he had no idea where these strangers were taking his _aibou_.

Yugi was not really worried about it but decided that it was best to know. "Erm . . . so, where are we going, if it's all right to ask?"

"The Lucky Key," Krystal piped up readily. "It's where we're having dinner."

"Oh? I haven't heard of that one. What is it?"

"Chinese, I think. I've never been there – Chelsea picked where we went." Yugi could hear the shrug in Krystal's voice.

Mrs. Erikson finally surrendered to a question that had been nagging at her – he'd been reading it on her face when she glanced at him periodically. "By the way, Yugi, that's a very interesting way you're wearing your hair. Is that the style in Japan?"

Yugi self-consciously ran one hand through his thick, soft locks. "_Ano_, not . . . really. It just grows like this. It's one of the things I inherited from my _Jii-chan_ . . . um, grandfather."

Krystal startled to learn that. "Really? I always thought you styled it. It's really natural?"

"Heh, yup. It sure is."

"Wow. That's pretty cool."

Yugi just grinned, noting in passing that they were skirting another neighborhood.

"Oooh, look at that!" Mrs. Erikson pointed at an upcoming street sign. "Peppermint Drive. 'I live on Peppermint Drive.' Heh, I like that. Maybe we should move there."

"Sounds good to me," Krystal agreed with a laugh.

Yugi did not catch the joke right away, the humor lost on him initially as he sifted the comments through languages. "You do? Oh! Heh . . . yup, that _would_ be neat."

"And I like your necklace, Yugi" Mrs. Erikson put in, changing gears as she eyed the Millennium Puzzle. "What's that, the Eye of Ra? Krystal's got a necklace with something similar on it, but it's silver and way smaller."

Yugi shook his head. "Eye of Horus, according to _Jii-chan_."

"Ra, Horus . . . hard to keep 'em straight. Egyptian, then?"

Yugi nodded at the woman with a chuckle. "Ah, yup, they can be. And yes, it's from Egypt. _Jii-chan_ brought it back from one of his trips when he was much younger."

Krystal sat forward in the back seat, trying to look over Yugi's shoulder. He obliged by holding up the Puzzle for her to see. "Really? That's seriously awesome."

"Maybe it's a piece of Goa'uld technology." Mrs. Erikson gave her daughter a wink of private humor.

"Be careful with that, Yugi – it might be dangerous." Krystal winked back, and her mother laughed.

Yami laughed as well. -_Oh, yes, very dangerous!_-

Yugi scratched the back of head. "Heh . . . yup, I'll be careful. But what is 'Goa'uld technology'?"

"It's a reference to this TV show, 'Stargate'." Krystal shrugged. "Sci-fi."

"Jack O'Neill," Mrs. Erikson murmured with a blissful grin.

"Ah." Yugi nodded, though he did not recognize the reference, nor the strange sounds "s-eye, f-eye". "It's a good show, then? American?"

"Yup." Krystal poked the back of her mother's shoulder. "Less lusting, more driving. I'd like to arrive in one piece. Sorry – she's going through her second adolescence."

"And enjoying every minute of it," Mrs. Erikson agreed, a wide grin on her face as she cast a fun wink sidelong at Yugi.

Yugi laughed, deciding that he really liked Krystal's mother. "I will have to watch this show sometime, I think."

"You should," Krystal grinned. "We've got the original movie. It's heavy in Egyptian mythology . . . Want to borrow it?"

"The TV show is based on a movie? Sure, I would like that."

"No problem. Remind me, and I'll bring it to school Monday."

Yugi was nodding enthusiastically. "Sure!" He suppressed a snicker as Yami promised to help him remember, himself more than a little interested.

With that, they turned another corner at a large intersection, then took the driveway into the shopping center on the right. A strip mall bordered the back two edges of the parking lot, opposite the street. Yugi recognized a dollar-store, a sandwich shop, a postal store, a consignment shop, a Mexican restaurant – and a Chinese-styled restaurant with "The Lucky Key" on a faux-scroll sign on the end.

Mrs. Erikson parked and Yugi followed Krystal's lead, climbing out of the car. Mrs. Erikson leaned over. "Where am I picking you guys up? The high school?" Yugi turned to Krystal to answer that.

"Yep, the parent pick-up line. You know, the place you drop me off when I miss the bus."

"Okay, yes. What time?"

"Eleven, I think."

"Mom-san . . . I mean, Mrs. Carrington wants me home by midnight," Yugi put in at the same time.

"I can do that," Mrs. Erikson assured him. "See ya! Have fun!"

Yugi offered a bow. "Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Erikson."

"You're welcome. And you're polite, too," Mrs. Erikson marveled with a warm smile.

Yugi blushed, half-glancing at Krystal to see if she seemed to think he was acting out-of-sorts.

Krystal, too, was grinning. "Wish the guys around here were half as nice."

Yugi's blush deepened – he realized that he was probably going to spend all night with a various shades of pink to his face for one reason or another – as he waved goodbye to Mrs. Erikson and turned to follow Krystal into the Lucky Key.

* * *

Author's Notes: Please be sure to check my bio page for any updates, etc. Thanks!


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